'What does the fox say' about Ylvis' new children's book?

In the wake of the viral YouTube hit of their song "The Fox", and in cooperation with a famous illustrator, Svein Nyhus, Ylvis is now releasing a children's book on the same fox theme.

Bård and Vegard Ylvisåker, the famous duo who make up Ylvis, had such an unexpected global success with their music video, "The Fox", they have decided to use that fame to promote a childrens' book based on the video.

To do this, the brothers have teamed up with renowned illustrator Svein Nyhus. Nyhus is wellknown for his work on children's books, including "The Dreammachine" and "Why the World Has No Corners", both of which have been translated into many languages.

In 2004, Nyhus illustrated "Why Kings and Queens Don't Wear Crowns", a children's book written by Princess Märtha Louise of Norway.

The Ylvisåker brothers said in a statement:

"We got the idea to do a children's book of the song early on and were so bold that we straight away asked the very best illustrator."

"We are delighted to be working with him. Svein builds on the whole idea of the song - combining the absurd with rock-solid craftsmanship."

Aftenbladet (Norwegian language) say that according to Nyhus the book was meant to be "full of surprises and life". He said, "It is special and popular, neat and messy , noisy and poetic, childish and serious - all at once."

"It is a book that can be read many times while singing, as it is fun to read aloud from and to kid around while reading."

As reported by NRK (in Norwegian), Nyhus said in a press release. "I hope it can delight, amaze and inspire singing and dancing and nonsense."

Cover of the children's book based on "The Fox" produced by Ylvis from their viral music video and illustrated by Svein Nyhus.

Ylvis

The brothers asked Christian Løchstøer, the Managing Editor of their chat show "Tonight with Ylvis" to write the book. The book will be released in Norway on November 14, in plenty of time for Christmas.

In the meantime, "The Fox" has, at today's date been seen 147 million times, which makes it one of the biggest YouTube hits for 2013. The song even reached number 6 on the Billboard charts in the United States.